Andrew Cashner didn’t pitch a complete game Friday night in either sense of the word.

“I had some very good moments, but I left room for improvement,” Cashner said Saturday afternoon as he reflected on his six-inning outing against the Giants.

After allowing two Giants to reach base in each of the first three innings, Cashner retired 12 straight San Francisco hitters starting with Pablo Sandoval in a two-on, none-out situation in the third.

“I didn’t let Pablo beat me,” said Cashner, who lost his first start of the season the previous April 20 in San Francisco on a two-run Sandoval homer.

This time, Cashner stuck Sandoval out on a 98-mph fastball to start perhaps the best three-batter sequence by a Padres pitcher this season. Cashner then retired Buster Posey on a roller to short on a full-count change-up. Then he got Hunter Pence to ground out to short on a first-pitch change-up.

“Those pitches came in a critical situation,” said Padres manager Bud Black. “Those were quality pitches. He threw strikes when he was behind in the count and settled in.”

As Cashner reviewed the events of Friday night, however, he was as excited about his first professional stolen base as he was about his first win of the season.

Cashner’s somewhat delayed steal of second in the third – after he had lined a single to center off Tim Lincecum -- led to the Padres’ two-run, game-winning rally.

“I’ve always wanted to get a steal,” said Cashner. “(First base coach Dave) Roberts told me to be ready to go if I saw a ball in the dirt. When I car Buster (Posey) go to his knees, I took off.”

“I looked up when he took off and said ‘Oh, no,” said Black. “When I saw that slide, I said “Oh, no” a second time.”

“I like running the bases,” said Cashner. “I like being on base, although I haven’t been on that much. I stole bases in high school.” While at TCU, Cashner said he was timed in 6.4 seconds for the 60-yard dash.

“I think he wants the pinch-running job from Clayton (Richard),” said Black.

What Cashner really wants is to stay in the rotation. He threw 83 pitches Friday to move closer to not having a pitch-count restriction moving forward.

The Bass blog

Padres right-handed pitcher Anthony Bass has been doing a weekly blog for Carlsbad-based athletic equipment and training company SKLZ.

The fifth of Bass’s eight scheduled 500-word blogs was published last Wednesday under the SKLZ’s Success Project. The subjects thus far have included the mental side of pitching, spring training, how Bass reached the major leagues and how he dealt with being injured last year.

“I’ve had a lot of positive feedback,” said Bass. “I enjoy doing it. “I was surprised when they asked me. They knew I was involved in social media (twitter: @anthonybass45) and wanted my thoughts on some things.”

Last week’s post was about the shoulder inflammation that sidelined him for 10 weeks last season.

“That was the first time I ever came face to face with the thought that it could all be over with one pitch,” said Bass. “I wrote about how I felt. I went three weeks before a MRI showed it was an inflammation and nothing structural. There were a lot of emotions and thoughts involved.”

Bass’s blog can be accessed through thesuccessproject.com.

Thatcher’s turn around

Through his first eight appearances this season, left-handed reliever Joe Thatcher gave up 10 hits to the 20 batters he faced over 3 1/3 innings. But he has retired eight straight hitters in his last four outings with four strikeouts.

“Joe’s arm speed has picked up,” explained Black. “There is more crispness to his fastball and his slider has gotten better. He came out of spring training with not quite the arm strength he needed. He’s back to where he needs to be.”